Bunhill Fields is the pre-eminent Dissenters’ burial ground in England, final resting place of John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe and William Blake, along with many other leading c.17th intellectuals, radicals and clergymen. The Conservation area is on the Historic England’s Risk Register. Despite the ongoing investment in the tomb conservation, the wider burial ground has problems of ASB and underperforms as a public space and Grade I heritage asset. 

As with many historic landscapes there was a diverse overlay of designs from different periods, and 1950s design overlay here was Peter Shepheard’s. Our analysis revealed that Peter Shepheards 1950s design intent was not implemented as he intended, leading to a large expanse of bland paving – neither supporting todays uses or complementing historic significance. This gave us evidence to suggest changes in accordance with original design intentions and make subtle changes to solve various problems: design out antisocial behaviour, capitalise on the site’s heritage assets and manage trees to improve ground flora, thus biodiversity. A new café / toilet block sensitively sited would provide needed facilities and income to fund ongoing restoration.